


Nowhere You Can Be

by Ramaque



Category: Merlin (TV), Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Betaed by my other personality, Competitive Flirting, Knight!Chris, M/M, Magical!Mari, Magical!Yuuri, Merlin AU, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prince!Victor, Servant!Yuri, mild bullying, we die like "men"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21617686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramaque/pseuds/Ramaque
Summary: A story of inexorable destiny and magical adventures. Love and anxiety in a time of dragons. Two sides of the same coin.Merlinstuck Victuuri, in a nutshell. Written for Kaz's YOI Bacon Exchange 2019
Relationships: Christophe Giacometti & Victor Nikiforov, Christophe Giacometti/Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Mari & Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Victor Nikiforov & Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20
Collections: BaconExchange2019





	Nowhere You Can Be

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hufflehobbit_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hufflehobbit_writes/gifts).



> I can only hope you love Merlin as much as I do.
> 
> Characters and Everyone is Gay are from Yuri!!! on Ice (and from my heart). Setting and basic plot points are from BBC's Merlin. Combining those things changes more than you would think. Warning: I stole a few lines from the dragon. I am sorry, Kilgarrah; you are too good to be rewritten.

Yuuri walked into the bustling city gates and quickly shuffled to the side of the street so as to be as unobtrusive as possible to the obviously very busy people who lived there.

He was like a fly on the wall, an outsider just blending into the scenery because there was nothing particularly noticeable about him whatsoever... and given the whole reason he was here, Yuuri felt that was actually quite a convenient way for him to be. Still, he wouldn’t describe his feelings right now as pleasant exactly. Crowds always made him nervous, even when there wasn’t a particularly good reason for him to be.

At least he wouldn’t be an outsider to everyone here for very long. His mom had a distant cousin who lived here, or so she said, and now Yuuri just had to find them. He was pretty stressed about their meeting actually. There was a lot of pressure for it to go well because Yuuri had basically turned his life upside down pinning his hopes on this one plan to… what? Train? Hide in plain sight? It wasn’t a concrete plan admittedly, but it was all he had. Step one was find this Mari… After that was to be determined. Yuuri figured he had best ask someone for directions.

He walked up to the first uniformed guards he could find, who were chatting loudly with each other and laughing uproariously at their own jokes, but not really guarding anything at all, at least as far as he could tell. Maybe they were on break. Yuuri approached as casually as he could and waited for a lull in the conversation. His mother taught him manners, after all.

Before he could make his presence known or say anything at all, one of the guards, who had shaggy brown/blonde hair and what appeared to be perfectly groomed facial hair, noticed him… to put it mildly. The man was well built, with perfectly tan skin and pretty green eyes framed by long, thick eyelashes, which seemed just a little too mischievous and entirely too focused on Yuuri for Yuuri’s liking. 

“Well… I haven’t seen you before. New around here, are we?”

His voice was unexpectedly deep for someone with such feminine features, and he seemed to be slowly invading Yuuri’s space while he spoke. Yuuri did his best to try not to be too obvious about the fact that he was slowly shrinking in on himself.

“Er, yes. Just arrived, actually...”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. In fact, I was looking for someone, and I hoped you might point me in the right direction...”

The other guards smirked and chuckled behind him like they knew where this conversation was headed, but those green eyes just continued to bore into Yuuri.

“What’s your name, kid?”

Yuuri winced a bit and glanced at the others. For goodness’ sake, he’s probably the same age as them. “...Yuuri Katsuki.”

“Yuuri… I’m Christophe, Christophe Giacometti, but you can call me Chris.” He said this with a wink and while leaning in so close to Yuuri’s face that Yuuri could feel his warm breath. He smelled musky, mostly, but there was a hint of floral, like he had bathed in rosewater. This struck Yuuri as odd for a knight.

“Nice to meet you.” Yuuri raised his hand to shake automatically, and Chris less shook it and more caressed and held Yuuri’s hand for a moment in his own.

“Charmed, I’m sure,” he said with a crooked grin. 

“Sir Chris…” 

“Just Chris,” he interrupted.

“...Chris, could you tell me where to find Mari Katsuki? I understand they’re the court physician.”

“Well, now, it is quite a big castle. You could very easily get lost in its halls… Why don’t I just escort you there safely, hm?”

Yuuri shifted his rucksack more securely on his shoulder. 

“I think I can manage on my own, thanks. I have to find my way eventually after all, and I’m sure you gentlemen are extremely busy protecting the kingdom. I mean, I’m just a simple guy from the country myself, but I’ve heard stories of the brave exploits of the famous knights of Camelot.” Yuuri paused here to let his words take effect. “But perhaps if you could just... point me the way?” 

Yuuri was actually proud of the innocent, wide-eyed expression he managed to maintain during this little speech. What cabbageheads.

Chris at least seemed at a loss for a good comeback or another good pick-up line, so he shook his head and proceeded to direct Yuuri to the court physician’s chambers.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so difficult here after all.

  
  


~~*~~

  
  


Victor didn’t know what it was about today, but something felt different. As exciting as his life should have been on paper, he had developed something of a routine with it. Every day: get up, breakfast, train, sit in on meetings of state, maybe go on a hunting trip if he was lucky, attend a royal party if he was less lucky, go to bed, and then start over again. Victor was just not built for this kind of monotony. 

Today, though, something had changed. He didn’t have a clue what it could be, but he could feel the needling excitement down to his bones, and he was not one to dismiss something like that. The universe was clearly telling him to pay attention; he just had to figure out to what.

Under such presuppositions, he elected to dress himself today (which he was perfectly capable of doing, thank you very much Yuri) so that he could go ahead and see what was going on in the kingdom outside his room. ...It took Yuri actually showing up to apparently magically produce his boots and belt from somewhere Victor could swear he looked already, but no matter because after that, he was off!

As expected, his people were running to and fro trying to get everything ready for the big celebration tomorrow night. King Yakov was finally signing a new trade agreement with the neighboring kingdom of Mercia, and after that was to be a feast and entertainment celebrating their apparent friendship. Victor didn’t have anything against King Bayard personally, but as heir to the throne, Victor had to be well versed in all of Camelot history, and their relationship with Bayard and Mercia was no exception. Thus, he understood this party to be exactly what it was: a strategic political event. It held extremely little personal interest for him.

Still, something was in the air. He swore he could almost smell it - something new. Victor looked around. 

Vendors were loudly hawking their wares in the market. Servants with their arms full were doing their best not to collide with one another in the streets and halls. His father, Victor was sure, was holed up firmly in his throne room performing his kingly duties in meeting after meeting after meeting. Victor could only hope the king would be too busy to notice his absence today.

He saw his knights standing together by one of the castle walls and immediately headed that direction. He would have to give them a stern lecture on the unlikelihood of them actually protecting the kingdom like this in the event of an attack… but that could wait. Chris would just laugh him off anyway, the unrepentant recalcitrant. 

Speaking of the devil himself, Chris was talking to someone (quite intimately, or so it appeared) whom Victor had never actually seen before. Victor stalked curiously over, all the while trying to get a clear glimpse of the visitor’s face, but the man turned and strode off before Victor had got less than a dozen yards away. All he really saw was a mess of black hair and a well-worn rucksack before he was lost in the crowd.

“Who was that?” Victor inquired.

“I’m not sure,” Chris admitted.

“That would be Chris’s first rejection! You okay there, hot stuff?” JJ crowed.

“Hey!” Chris objected.

After that, the group devolved into bickering and laughing and set about causing their usual mild forms of havoc and practicing their sword fighting in the square to the delight and annoyance of onlooking passersby. Many a fair maid or gent appeared ready to swoon over Chris and Victor both, which is exactly what they intended with their little show. 

It seemed to be a good day so far, thought Victor.

  
  


~~*~~

  
  


“Hello?” Yuuri asked quietly, stepping carefully around the old creaking door to what he assumed was the court physician’s quarters.

No one appeared to be around. He heard a slight shuffling of papers from somewhere, so he stepped further into the room and said again, a bit louder this time, “Hello?”

Suddenly, someone gasped and there was the scraping sound of a ladder coming off balance and Yuuri saw a figure falling through the air in front of him. He didn’t have time to think at all, so he acted on pure instinct. 

Yuuri slowed time.

That done, he looked around the room for a solution to the problem at hand. Time wasn’t quite stopped so he had to hurry still. He noticed a very small, very worn bed in one corner of the room. It was risky but would have to do. He pulled the bed toward him with his mind and angled it just so, such that it would have the greatest chance of safely catching the poor soul about to crash into it. 

He let time resume its usual pace.

_Whuuuump_. The bed creaked after such abuse as the person struggled to lift off of it again. They cast a striking figure once Yuuri actually had the chance to take a look at them. Most noticeably this person had the wildest hair Yuuri had ever seen. It was full of tight curls held back by a loose headband, and while their roots were dark, the middles and ends of their hair appeared to cover every shade of the rainbow. They were wearing what he supposed could have qualified as a physician’s robes - the robes were loose, formless, and even more brightly colored than their hair, though Yuuri could see stains from where potions must have spotted their sleeves.

Despite their somewhat wild appearance, Yuuri could tell this must be his cousin because while they had darker skin than his and lighter eyes, their facial structure was surprisingly familiar. In fact, they even appeared to have the same build and height as him, though Yuuri still had quite a bit of stubborn baby fat he just could not seem to shake, and his cousin seemed very well-toned… which was a bit unfortunate at this particular moment because they looked a bit like they might deck him.

“WHAT… did you just do?!” they demanded.

“Uh… are you Mari Katsuki?” Yuuri returned lamely.

“What? This is my chambers, is it not? Of course I’m Mari Katsuki. Who the hell are you, and what are you doing so casually using magic around complete strangers, and IN THE CASTLE of all places for goodness’ sake?”

“Well, you were falling, and…” Yuuri trailed off, not expecting to have to defend himself on this.

They just stared at him, expression unchanging.

He tried again. “I’m… I’m Yuuri. Hiroko’s son?...”

That, finally, produced a new reaction. Mari’s hard expression faltered, their eyes softened, and they frowned.

“Ah, yes, of course. She did write me you were coming… I just didn’t expect… Though this does explain some things.” Mari eyed Yuuri as if assessing him before continuing, “I haven’t seen Hiroko in years. How is my cousin?”

Yuuri found the change in atmosphere too abrupt for his liking, even if it was to his benefit, but he recovered well enough.

“Okaa-san is good. She said she misses you... She said no one else can really straighten her out anymore when she needs it, not like you always could. Her words.”

Mari smiled, but it wasn’t meant to put him at ease. He felt like he wasn’t in on whatever they were thinking about. He waited for them to refocus on him and kept his head down. He really didn’t want to make a bad impression given the whole reason he was here… though he knew potentially that was already a lost cause.

Mari switched gears again. “Yuuri… how did you move the bed like that? I was here, and I didn’t hear anything. Did you whisper the spell?”

“I… just wanted it to happen and it did. I’ve always been able to do that for as long as I can remember.” Mari continued to examine him critically as he spoke, their eyes bright and hard. “...And I don’t actually know any spells. There was no one in Hasetsu to teach me,” Yuuri admitted sheepishly.

“Yuuri, do you know the law regarding magic in Camelot?”

“Yes, of course. Okaa-san was always very careful about me not talking about my magic or using it around anyone but her.” Yuuri didn’t know why he felt the need to defend his mom about this, like he thought Mari was implying Hiroko didn’t raise him to know better, but he made sure to keep his tone polite.

“It’s… different seeing it in person, you know, what they do if they catch one of us.” For a moment, Mari gazed at him with what Yuuri thought was pity, before they seemed to make a decision. “But, listen Yuuri: I love Hiroko, but I would tell you the same thing even if you were my own son,” (Yuuri thought that was ridiculous. Mari couldn’t be more than a few years older than him.) Mari continued, “I won’t tolerate blatant stupidity. If you’re going to stay and study your spellwork under me, you’d better develop more fucking common sense than I’ve seen from you so far. That means NO MAGIC OR MAGIC TALK unless I say so first. You got it?”

This all seemed quite unnecessary and even rude, if he was being honest. He’s not an idiot, and he just saved Mari’s life! Or at least he saved them a lot of slow and painful healing! Granted… he may have also startled them and caused them to fall in the first place… Okay, Yuuri supposed he maybe deserved this lecture, even if he felt it was more condescending than strictly needed to get the point across. Wait…

Did Mari just say he could stay?

Did they just say they’d… teach him spells?

“Did you just say… you’d teach me to use spells?” He had to be sure he hadn’t dreamed that part. His mom had sent him here to learn to control his magic better so that he wouldn’t get caught and publicly executed, but learning to actually USE his magic more? That was beyond anything he could have ever imagined happening.

Mari grinned at him for the first time.

“Well, gift like yours, Yuuri… It’d be a shame to let that go to waste.”

  
  


~~*~~

  
  


The problem was that they were bored.

That was usually the cause of the ill advised shenanigans of Victor and his knights. Today, poor Yuri was the victim of their bad ideas. Victor wasn’t too worried though; even being 12 years Victor’s junior, and as much as 10 years younger than some of the knights, Yuri could hold his own with any of them, what with the mouth he had on him.

It started because they were doing target practice and JJ was starting to be a sore loser about it. Victor couldn’t really understand why he would be. Even disregarding his natural coordination and athletic ability (not to brag, it’s just facts), King Yakov had made sure Victor was thoroughly trained in his princely duties, including all conceivable (and some inconceivable, Victor thought) forms of combat since he was barely old enough to walk. Other people couldn’t really compete with him and expect to win.

Nevertheless, JJ argued that Victor was too accustomed to aiming his sword-throwing at the wooden mannequins or the trees along the grounds, and that was why Victor had an advantage over the rest of them. Chris, in his infinite wisdom, then countered that Victor could hit any target, even a completely unpredictable moving one.

This is where poor Yuri came in.

“Hey, Plisetsky!” JJ called, seeing the teen walking across the castle grounds not too far from them. 

Yuri paused and popped the stick candy out of his mouth. “What do you want, you braindead oaf?” he called back.

Chris and Victor giggled at that. JJ bristled, but only for a moment.

“Sire, are you going to let your personal servant talk to his superior like that?” JJ just barely managed to keep the whine out of his voice.

“Yuri, you’re on break aren’t you?”

“I’m on break.”

“He’s on break, Sir JJ,” Victor confirmed. He couldn’t really keep the amusement out of his voice. He was only human, after all.

JJ grumbled audibly under his breath. “Well, when you’re quite finished, Plisetsky, why don’t you come perform the duties you’re paid for and assist Prince Victor with his training?”

“Ah, Yuri, you don’t have to do that…” Victor started, but Yuri interrupted him.

“What are you doing?”

“JJ says Victor can’t hit a moving target,” Chris supplied helpfully.

Georgi gasped in offense. “That’s Prince Victor, you ingrate.”

Chris just giggled. He and Victor had grown up together, so to him Victor was first and foremost his best friend. Plus, Chris never quite got used to the strictly deferential part of the Knight’s Code. His rebellious streak was too wide to comply genuinely. He could, however, easily call Victor “Your Highness” with complete disdain and sarcasm when they argued. Hm… come to think of it, so could Yuri, whom Victor regarded as both a friend and a kind of protege. Victor didn’t really think on this pattern of mutiny beyond a passing “huh.” He just couldn’t be bothered to care about that kind of thing; there were so many more interesting things to consider after all!

Yuri shrugged as he crunched the last of his candy and threw down the wood stick it came on. Victor never figured out where Yuri got the idea for his beloved stick candy or how he convinced the cook to make them for him.

Yuri looked straight at JJ. “If it means him defeating you and rubbing your conceited nose in it, then I’m happy to be of assistance, Sir.” Yuri punctuated this with a little bow.

…

Not even ten minutes later the entire group was yelling and egging Victor and Yuri on as Yuri darted and weaved with a thick wooden target strapped to his back, all the while shouting expletives every time Victor hit his mark, which was about 90% of the time. The one time he missed was because Chris made him laugh unexpectedly, so he dropped the sword way too early in his swing, and it flung into the grass well ahead of where Yuri stood. 

Victor would never have agreed to this if he thought there was any chance of him actually hitting Yuri, but he knew himself well enough to trust his own aim. Again, this was just facts.

JJ was just starting to get tired of being shown up, so he started to say, “Well, maybe the boy’s not challenge enough. I could hit that target too at the pace he’s moving…”

Victor was about to put a decisive end to the sport at that comment when he heard a clear and sharp gasp from behind him.

He turned around and found a pair of wide brown eyes staring at him in shock.

Very pretty big brown eyes, set in what could only be described as a very handsome face. It was wider and with a darker complexion than his own and topped with a very thick mop of messy black hair. Victor wondered where the stranger was from because he clearly was not from around here. Victor is sure he would have remembered a face like that.

“Hello!” Victor said pleasantly, and put on his most winsome smile, the one that caused all the young lords and ladies he met to swoon and allowed him to get whatever it was he was after as a child.

The stranger continued to stare at him with what Victor thought looked like mounting horror, but that couldn’t be right.

“Yuuri! So nice to see you again!” interjected Chris.

“What… are you doing,” Yuuri (apparently) asked, but it came out more like an accusation than a question.

“Oh, Victor here’s just showing us all up again, cocky bastard that he is,” Chris explained. Victor smiled fondly, amused. Only Chris dared say such things to him. Well, mostly only.

“Sir Christophe! Language! And, again, that’s Prince Victor to you,” reprimanded Georgi, for maybe the tenth time today. Victor had lost count. As the oldest, Georgi seemed to feel it was his responsibility to teach them proper and chivalrous behavior so they would best represent the knights of Camelot.

“P-Prince Victor?” Yuuri’s horrified expression seemed to grow somehow with this new understanding.

“The one and only! And as your prince, it seems only right that I should get to know my subjects better. Yuuri, is it?” 

Victor tried again, this time holding out his hand to the stranger and angling his head and body in such a way that he knew put him in the best light: stretched to his full height, lean muscles on display, head bent to let his sleek silver fringe catch the light, and hooded bright blue eyes sparkling down at Yuuri. He was using dazzling smile number six. (This one not only got him out of a duel, it also landed him a very steamy picnic with both the dueler and the fair maiden he had challenged Victor over.)

Yuuri stared at Victor’s hand like he thought it might bite him if he looked away. He lightly took hold of Victor’s fingers for exactly as long as it took him to quickly bow over them and back away again.

“Your Highness, excuse me, but should you really be using your servant for simple… target practice?” He squeezed these last two words out between gritted teeth. “I’ve heard tales about the extraordinary chivalry of Camelot and its heroes. I guess this… isn’t what I expected, sire.”

Victor was momentarily shocked into silence. He can’t remember the last time he made such an unfortunate first impression.

Yuri, however, had made his way back to the group and did not remotely have the same problem.

“Hey, how about you keep your big nose and your fat ass out of other people’s business, huh? Do I look like I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be?”

At this, Yuuri blushed furiously and started stammering. Victor thought it might just be the cutest thing he’d ever seen. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to presume, uh…?”

“Yuri,” Yuri supplied, still standing awkwardly with the target on his back, but his arms were folded across his chest nonetheless, and he was glaring up at Yuuri. Yuri and Yuuri. Huh. That was going to get confusing.

“Yuri and Yuuri… that might get confusing,” said Chris. 

“Not if there’s only one of us sticking around,” said Yuri, but no one was paying him much mind at this point… except maybe Yuuri. 

The way his eyes darted around, Victor could tell Yuuri paid attention to just about everything. He thought, that must be exhausting. Perhaps Victor could help by paying attention to everything about Yuuri in turn. Someone should, and Victor didn’t see why that person shouldn’t be him. He honestly couldn’t think of a better use of his time.

“I got it!” Chris exclaimed, snapping Victor’s attention back to the conversation at hand. “We’ll call you Yuuri and Yurio!” He pointed to Yuuri and Yuri respectively in turn as he said this.

Victor could practically feel the steam radiating off of Yurio. “WHAT?! WHY DON’T YOU CHANGE HIS NAME?! I WAS HERE FIRST!”

“Well,” Chris started, finger on his chin like he was genuinely trying to be thoughtful about it, which Victor somewhat doubted to be the case, “Yuuri is assistant to the court physician, aren’t you, Yuuri? So his position is above yours, I think. Plus, he’s older than you are, Yurio.”

“STOP. CALLING ME THAT.”

Yuuri looked surprised at Chris’s words. “Well, yes, I am, but we actually just decided that. How did you…?”

“Word travels fast around here.” Victor guessed that meant Phichit’s penchant for gossip was at work again.

Then Chris winked at Yuuri, and Victor felt a small knot form in his stomach, which was silly. It had been years since he and Chris had been competitive over any potential romantic or sexual interest. They long ago mutually agreed to live by the law of dibs for the sake of their friendship, and they had yet to break that rule… until today apparently… though to be fair, Victor isn’t entirely sure which of them broke it.

“Yuuuuuri,” Victor drew his name out into a purr. “Since you will be such an important member of my staff, why don’t you join us at the feast tomorrow? It will give me a chance to get to know you better, and I’m certain you’ll enjoy the festivities.”

“Um…” said Yuuri uncertainly, “Surely you could find plenty of other lords and ladies who’d be happy to escort you, sire?”

A chorus of laughter and “OHHH” and “By the gods, he got you, sire” followed this. Victor examined Yuuri curiously. He was looking back and forth between Victor and the knights, and his wide doe eyes made him seem genuine and innocent, but with the little half-smile as well, Victor just could not be sure.

“There’s something about you, Yuuri…” he said before he could stop himself, “I can’t quite put my finger on it…”

Yuuri stopped smiling and looked Victor dead in the eyes. For a moment, Victor could swear Yuuri looked completely panic-stricken, like he was about to jump out of his skin, but the next moment his expression changed completely. Victor supposed he must have imagined it, though he couldn’t think why he would conjure an image of Yuuri looking scared. That wasn’t what he wanted.

“I’m perfectly ordinary, sire, I assure you. Excuse me, but I must get back. Mari will be needing me by now.” And with that, Yuuri turned on his heel and left.

  
  


~~*~~

  
  


Yuuri had almost successfully put the events of the day out of his mind to get to sleep. To think! Of all the people Yuuri could have had a run-in with on his first day in Camelot, it had to be Prince Victor himself!

He should have just continued walking, but Yuuri saw that tiny blond teenager struggling to hold that giant wooden disc on his back, all the while being pelted by flying swords every step he went, and Yuuri just couldn’t help but feel for him. Some days that’s how he felt: like he couldn’t take another step without some new burden or anxiety hitting him like another knife to the back. Constantly watching himself and everyone and everything around him in case he slipped up and exposed his secret. 

...Okay, he might have been projecting a little bit. Still, those lunkheads could have seriously hurt that kid. What on earth were they thinking? Well, Yuuri supposed he answered his own question actually: they most likely weren’t thinking at all.

Of course, if he thought about it, and he was thinking about it, Yuuri wasn’t much better. What kind of idiot knows he has magic he can’t always control - magic he uses on pure instinct - and then proceeds to relocate to the heart of the country where magic is completely outlawed? Nay, its very kingdom and castle?

To make matters worse, what kind of idiot then makes himself known and actually USES that magic in front of - of all people - the crown prince himself? That is, the very son of the man who outlawed magic in the first godforsaken place. 

Yuuri was definitely going to die here.

Granted, it didn’t seem like Victor (Prince Victor, Yuuri reminded himself) realized what happened, but it was a stupid risk, and all because of that stupid line. 

It had to be a line, since Vi- Prince Victor and Sir Chris had been flirty from the outset. Yuuri assumed it was some ridiculous one-upmanship thing the two of them did to newcomers for their own amusement. There was no other conceivable reason for the both of them to go after Yuuri specifically. He was a wallflower, not noticeable in the slightest. He knew this and accepted it about himself.

Anyway, that stupid line somehow sent Yuuri into a tailspin thinking Victor might be onto him. He could feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming on, so he did what he usually did to buy himself time: that is, he stopped it. He gave himself a breather to calm down and then thought it through rationally. No, aside from time currently being at a standstill, there was no reason for Victor to suspect anything of him. 

Of course, this meant Yuuri had to go back to exactly that moment and get up close to the prince again to resume their conversation, but this time Yuuri steeled himself first. He had a plan, which was to leave as quickly and smoothly as possible, without raising suspicion. He… thought he did okay with that.

As Yuuri was laying on his new bed in Mari’s back room, ostensibly trying to sleep, but really just rehashing these same thoughts over and over, he suddenly thought he heard a voice.

He couldn’t make out what it said until it spoke a second time.

“Yuuri.”

He waited. He listened to determine where the voice was coming from. He must have misheard. Lots of words sound like his name after all.

“Yuuri Katsuki.”

His heart stopped and he didn’t dare breathe or move a muscle. The voice was not in his room… It was in his head... Oh no. Why him?

“Yuuri Katsuki, I know you can hear me. Come find me.”

He took a minute to wallow in blind and unfettered fear of who this could be and what was about to come. He deserved that minute after the day he’d had.

The voice was not having that. “Yuuri, calm down. Come to the castle dungeons now. We need to talk.”

…

It took Yuuri a good ten minutes to calm himself and get dressed enough to wander about the castle. It took him another ten minutes to find the path to the dungeons through the cavernous halls and twisting stairwells of the castle in the dark. He ended up having to tap into some unknown part of himself to reach out and feel for the voice with his mind to figure out where it was.

Eventually, he found himself standing in front of a set of stairs that seemed to lead deep down into pitch black nothingness below the castle. Yuuri took a deep breath and grabbed a torch off the wall.

Eventually, as he descended, he could no longer see the entrance at all. A while after that, the stairs finally ended abruptly, only to then drop off into an enormous underground cave. It was an extremely good thing he had brought a torch so he did not fall to his death. Yuuri heard wind and chains rattle in the distance.

“Yuuri. It is a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance.”

He heard the voice in his head again before he saw its owner, but he could feel telltale wind on his face. Whatever this was, it was big, and it had wings. Yuuri had heard stories of magical creatures of course, but he knew that most of them had been wiped out in the Great Purge. His history books had taught him that dragons, at least, were most definitely extinct. Everyone knew they didn’t exist anymore. In fact, the last one had died years ago at the hands of King Yakov’s own Dragonlord.

Everyone was wrong, apparently.

“Yuuri, how small you are, for such a great destiny,” the dragon said with something like amusement and affection, this time outside of Yuuri’s head.

“...Destiny?” Yuuri said. “Are you sure you have the right person?”

The dragon chuckled at that. “Of course, Yuuri Katsuki, born 29 November 482 to Hiroko and Toshiya Katsuki... Your gift was given to you for a reason.”

Yuuri’s head was spinning. He assumed if he was talking to a real dragon, who had until just now been speaking to him in his head, that his secret was already out. “My gift? You mean my magic? What… what reason?” 

“Victor is the once and future king. He will unite the land and bring peace to all its peoples, but Yuuri: he will only succeed in doing this with your help.” 

“...ME?” Yuuri protested. “There… there must be a mistake.”

“I’m afraid there isn’t. Victor cannot do this alone. He is but one side of a coin. You are the other.” 

Yuuri reeled at the implications. Him… and Victor?

“None of us can choose our destiny, Yuuri... and none of us can escape it.”

**Author's Note:**

> As a bonus treat, please look at my initial outline for this story (warning: entirely pictures):  
> Outline - Draft 1
> 
> (I may redo this at some point so the pics are bigger and better quality... and potentially so it's not a PDF.)


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